Cast and Crew:   Fred Zinnemann (Director);  Stanley Kramer (Producer); Grace Kelly, Lee Van Cleef, Lon Chaney Jr., Lloyd Bridges, Thomas Mitchell, Katy Jurado, Harry Morgan

What It’s About: Marshal Will Kane (Gary Cooper) finds out that a man he sent to prison has sworn revenge and is returning to town on the noon train on the same day he is getting married and hanging up his badge.  Will the town he’s protected for years come to his aid?

Why Watch it Today?:   Today in 1947, the Hollywood Ten were cited for Contempt of Congress for refusing to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee, which was investigating allegations that Hollywood Communists were filling movies with anti-American propaganda.  High Noon is often seen as an allegory for the blacklisting that accompanied HUAC’s investigations and destroyed many Hollywood careers, particularly those working behind the scenes.  Screenwriter Carl Foreman was one victim of the blacklist.

Mo Rating for Movember:  Lon Chaney Jr. sports a pretty terrible Mo’.  3 out of 5 Mos:

“Even a man who says his prayers, and shaves his face by night, can become a Mo Bro when the turkeys gobble and the Movember moon is bright”